


You Ain't Ever Had a Friend Like Me

by chromyrose



Series: SASO 2017 [32]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Developing Friendships, Disney References, Disney World & Disneyland, Ensemble Cast, Fluff, Gen, Opposites Attract, Social Media
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-30
Updated: 2017-07-30
Packaged: 2018-12-08 17:45:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11651562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chromyrose/pseuds/chromyrose
Summary: Otabek struggles to make new friends, but Phichit knows that all you need is a little faith, trust, and pixie dust.





	You Ain't Ever Had a Friend Like Me

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: "Phichit at Disney World with cotton candy."
> 
> Disclaimer: Despite a lifetime of wanting and dreaming, I have never been to Disney World. I have worked for the Disney Store, and I was an animation major in university, so I combined those two realms of knowledge (along with a lot of internet scouring and youtube video viewing) to make this as close to the genuine experience for these characters as I could. That said, please forgive any inaccuracies in my depiction of the Magic Kingdom - chalk it up to YoI being set in its own universe.
> 
> The title is from the Aladdin song "Friend Like Me" because of course! :D

“So, Otabek,” Phichit starts, walking down the street with his phone in Otabek’s face. “Your fans have chimed in and they all want to know: What is your favorite Disney film?” 

It’s a little bizarre for Otabek, who hasn’t attained the level of fame that some skaters have where paparazzi are thrusting cameras and recorders at them outside the context of a competition. It’s especially bizarre because it’s happening on the incredibly crowded Main Street, U.S.A., at Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. Otabek never thought he’d be in a situation quite like this one. 

“Uh,” he responds a bit dumbly. “My fans asked?” 

“I took a twitter poll,” Phichit clarifies, bumping into Otabek’s arm as he moves closer to him to make room for a double-wide stroller. “I asked what question your fans were most interested in hearing the answer for, and this is the one they picked. They all started guessing in the replies, too, it's really cute.” 

Otabek smiles a little at the thought of his fans, and he’s grateful that Phichit thought of them; Otabek himself is terrible at taking the initiative to post on social media, never really knowing what people would even want to see.

“My favorite film is Cinderella,” he admits, smiling a little sheepishly at the camera on Phichit’s phone. “That was the cassette my sisters and I grew up watching the most.” 

His smile relaxes into something a little more fond as he recalls the afternoons sprawled on the couch with his siblings, nibbling on _buarsak_ as Cinderella and the Prince had their first dance. Often, when the movie ended, his sisters fought over who got to play Cinderella and dance with him; the loser had to be the ugly step sister who couldn’t fit into the glass slipper. 

“God, you’re charming,” Phichit says with a bright laugh, bringing Otabek back to the present. “If you keep smiling like that, you might dethrone me as one of Asia’s Top 3.” 

“Top 3?” 

“Most Adorable Men’s Figure Skaters,” he explains. Then he presses his fingers to Otabek’s brow and smooths it out, and smiles further. “I’m onto you, Altin; I see your super cute potential!” 

Otabek scowls and instinctively swats Phichit’s arm away. For a brief moment he worries he may have offended Phichit and ruined this very new and therefore tenuous friendship, but Phichit hardly seems bothered. 

“Alright, I edited the video down to just your answer, and… it’s posted! I tagged you in it too, so your phone is probably gonna start blowing up. Sorry not sorry.”

“So you’re… not sorry?” Otabek guesses, confused by the slang. He lived and trained in Canada and the United States both, and considers himself fluent in English, but keeping up with Phichit is somehow still difficult. 

“Exactly. I’m apologizing for being unapologetic about using your popularity to boost mine.” 

“Wouldn’t it be the other way around? You’re the one who is more popular, and using your account to promote me.” 

“That’s what friends are for,” Phichit says breezily, as if their friendship is a well known and established fact. Otabek is surprised by how much Phichit’s casual affirmation puts him at ease. He finally slips his phone into his pocket and grins. “You know, I never would have guessed that Cinderella is your favorite movie. I was thinking something more like Hercules or Mulan. Or Sleeping Beauty, if we’re sticking with the classics. Something with more heroics, since you’re the Hero of Kazakhstan!” 

Otabek flushes a little at the use of the nickname, one he’s only ever heard spoken out loud back home, in his sisters’ and friends’ playful teasing and in various interviews he’s given as Kazakhstan’s first World Champion skater. He hadn’t realized that word of it had left his home country, though he should have expected that Phichit would know. 

“Those are fine,” he shrugs. He’s not particularly in love with Hercules or Sleeping Beauty, but he knows better than the say that in a literal mob of Disney fans. “Mulan is one of my favorites. But Cinderella is the best. When we were kids we could only watch it in Russian, but then it was recently dubbed into Kazakh. My sister bought a copy and watching it together was one of the first things we did when I moved back home.” 

“Oh gosh, that’s so cute! I’m totally gonna take a million pictures with you by her castle!” Phichit decides, pointing at the grand structure they’ve been inching towards all along with a massive grin. “Oh, but maybe we should get ear hats, first…!” He suddenly snorts. “Speaking of, you know how Yuuri and Viktor weren’t at breakfast today?” 

“Yeah?” 

“It turns out Viktor snuck out early and got them the Mickey groom and Minnie bride hats, you know the ones,” Phichit starts, gesturing to a couple off in the distance who are wearing them. “But then they got into a fight over who got to have the Minnie Mouse one. They both want to have the veil.”

He giggles, and Otabek hums. “Is that why you aren’t with Katsuki today? Yuri’s told me that you two are close friends.” 

“Yuuri is my best friend,” Phichit corrects with a proud grin. “And I’m totally going to steal him away from Viktor for a besties-only day at some point on this trip. But I wanna use this chance to get to know all my other skating friends, too! Especially the ones I can’t get to know the rest of the year because they’re never online and super secretive.” 

He nudges Otabek’s arm meaningfully. Otabek frowns. 

“I’m not _secretive_ ,” he protests. “I just don’t have anything to say.” 

“You ride a motorcycle and wear leather and DJ at nightclubs on top of being a world-class figure skater,” Phichit counters, ticking each item off on a finger. “You’re definitely Asia’s coolest figure skater, unless Seung-Gil is secretly a master of Jiu-Jitsu.” 

“Don’t you mean Taekwondo?” 

Phichit giggles. “That would be too expected, Otabek.” He looks around and sighs. “Where should we go first?” 

“I thought you were guiding us?”

“I was, but I’m overwhelmed by the choices,” Phichit whines dramatically. “Everything here is so Instagram-worthy! Especially the _food_.”

Otabek glances around, and he can easily see what Phichit means even though he doesn’t have much of an eye for social media; every square centimeter of the park around them is picturesque, from the rides to the costumed characters to the trashcans. And the food is nothing to knock either, from the whimsical Mickey Mouse shaped ice cream bars and pretzels, to the ‘real’ food that’s making Otabek’s stomach growl despite breakfast having only been two hours ago. 

His gaze lands on a vendor with a very simple product, and he bites his lip. Without his saying a word, Phichit follows his gaze and smiles. 

“Cotton candy? I’m actually saving that one for later, when we go to the fireworks show tonight.” 

The confusion must be obvious on Otabek’s face, because once again before he can say anything, Phichit loops their arms together and adds, “Don’t worry, it’ll make sense when you see it. I wanna keep it a surprise for now!” 

\--

The next few hours pass in something of a blur. Phichit decides they are in desperate need of ear hats, perhaps not so coincidentally as they happen upon a hat shop. He does his best to convince Otabek to get the Cinderella themed ears, which are white and blue with a sequined glass slipper on the front and images of a clock and the pumpkin carriage on the ears themselves, but Otabek stands firm on the ground of a very blunt, “No.” He is drawn instead to the Pooh Bear hat, despite its garishly bright colors, and Phichit absolutely approves. He even suggests getting the matching Tigger hat for Yuri, and Otabek does. Phichit himself spends the better part of an hour deliberating between multiple hats before biting the bullet on an Elsa themed headband with a sequined bow and snowflakes embroidered on the Mouse ears. 

Their next order of business is to make it to Cinderella’s castle, so Phichit can snap the promised selfies of them in their new hats with the blue towers as a backdrop. Afterwards they run into Guang-Hong, Leo, and Seung-Gil in Fantasyland, and decide to ride the “Mad Tea Party” after Phichit vetoes “It’s a Small World.”

“It doesn’t make sense to ride that one unless we’re all together,” he’d argued, and Leo was quick to agree that it would make the experience more complete.

They stop for an informal lunch of popcorn and ice cream, during which Guang-Hong shows off the signatures he’s collected in his autograph book. Phichit asks if Otabek wouldn’t mind joining him to meet a few other characters, and Otabek doesn’t—not even when they’re the only guys without a child in line for the Princess Fairytale Hall. He does mind when Phichit pushes him towards Cinderella, causing him to stumble and be caught by the Princess herself. He looks especially dour and embarrassed in the picture Phichit takes, made all the more ridiculous by the Poor Bear ears, but of course Phichit posts it online anyways. Five minutes later, Otabek turns his phone off because it’s still vibrating with notifications. 

They get together as an entire group for dinner, sixteen world-class figure skaters, and Otabek is genuinely surprised at how much he enjoys the meal despite it being loud and chaotic. Viktor and Yuuri are both wearing Minnie Mouse bridal veil ears when they arrive, which delights Phichit and Christophe to no end. Yuri arrives still feeling under the weather, wearing a simple leopard-print ears headband that Mila evidently bought him, and after a lot of kicking under the table, Phichit convinces Otabek to give Yuri the Tigger hat during a lull in the conversation. Thankfully, Yuri seems equal parts flustered and delighted, and he makes plans with Otabek to go have their skating nicknames embroidered on their hats the next day. 

Across the table, Mila has somehow ended up with the Mickey Mouse groom ears that neither Viktor nor Yuuri wanted, and she’s whispering a joke to Sara, who has the most classic iteration of Minnie Mouse’s headband with the iconic red and white polka-dotted bow. Beside her, Michele and Emil have Donald and Goofy hats respectively, and it’s not hard to guess whose idea that was, not with the way Emil is grinning and Michele just looks chagrined. 

“You know how Sara and Emil call him ‘Mickey’?” Phichit whispers, noticing where Otabek’s gaze has landed. “Well apparently he’s been looking up every time anyone has said the word ‘Mickey’ within earshot all day.” 

“That’s hilarious,” Yuri snorts, and it’s a little wet sounding because of his cold. Otabek offers him a tissue, and Yuri glares but accepts it. 

“Sara’s been posting on Snapchat every time it happens,” Phichit adds. “I almost feel bad for him. Kinda sorta.”

“So you don’t,” Otabek clarifies, and Phichit hides his giggles behind a forkful of potatoes. Yuri sneezes into a tissue. 

“It sucks that you’re so sick,” Phichit laments, and it’s surprisingly genuine for someone who was quite literally just laughing. There’s a little frown of concern on his face as he leans closer. “You’re gonna come with us to the show after this though, right?” 

“The show?” Yuri echoes, and Otabek’s glad he’s not the only one who has no idea what Phichit’s talking about. 

“Happily Ever After!” Phichit chirps, loud enough to get nearly everyone’s attention. “The super cool music-laser-storytelling-fireworks show that we’re absolutely all going to as a group because I said so.”

Emil laughs boisterously across the table as he nods, “We’re in!” 

“It sounds fun,” Viktor agrees, and just as soon as it’s been brought up the matter is settled and everyone returns to their conversations. 

\--

After dinner, the group sticks closer together than they had that morning. Not entirely together, because a sixteen person group walking together anywhere is an obnoxious mob, much less in an already crowded place like Disney World, but in close enough range that they can call out to one another over the din of the park. They migrate slowly back to the Castle for the show, as Phichit regales Yuri with the story of Otabek meeting Cinderella, and how it’s apparently his favorite film. Yuri sweeps a critical eye over Otabek and hums. 

“You kinda look like Prince Charming,” he comments, and Otabek hopes the burning in his ears can pass for an effect of the park’s vibrant lighting. 

“There’s just one more thing I wanna do before the show starts,” Phichit says, checking the time on his phone. He looks up again, his eyes scanning their surroundings, and then he lights up when he finds what he’s looking for. He gestures to a snack stand, and Otabek frowns. 

“I did promise you cotton candy, right?” Phichit reminds him with a crooked grin. “Come on.”

And it isn’t until they get a little closer that Otabek sees why Phichit wanted to wait until it was dark— in keeping with the spirit of Disney magic, the cotton candy looks less like a mountain of spun sugar, and more like an ethereal, glowing cloud. 

“Whoa,” Yuri murmurs, and Phichit grins. 

“Glow sticks,” he reveals conspiratorially. “It’s the simplest idea on the planet, but they look so cool, and you get to keep the glow stick after you eat it! Emil’s going to flip!” 

Otabek can’t help but smile at Phichit's infectious, youthful cheer, the delight and wonder in his eyes even over something that he himself acknowledges isn’t all that special. But, Otabek thinks as they wait on line, he’s in Disney World wearing an outlandish hat, the cotton candy has a glowing, color-changing core, and he’s made a new friend in a person who has no business being drawn to his stoicism— 

Phichit buys a cotton candy first, but pulls some of it away to press the sugar to Otabek’s lips before he even has a taste. A little surprised, Otabek opens his mouth and allows Phichit to feed him with a grin, and thinks that maybe there is something to Disney magic after all.

**Author's Note:**

> I was absolutely delighted in my research to run into [Disney's Instagram worthy cotton candy](http://www.teenvogue.com/story/light-up-cotton-candy-disney) and [Cinderella songs dubbed into Kazakh](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_-0XFh9ehQ) (apparently they only started dubbing Disney films to Kazakh in 2011, with Cars 2 of all films!) 
> 
> Please please please do let me know what you thought, because this fic was a real labor of love for me being a huge Disney nut. And if you want, you can follow me over on [twitter](https://twitter.com/haikyuutiie)!


End file.
